1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to heat shields, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a heat shield apparatus for the solenoid of a starter wherein the heat shield apparatus is clippingly connected to the solenoid.
2. Description of Related Art
Starters for automobiles are well known in the art. In general, a starter is provided with a solenoid for moving a drive gear into a flywheel engaging position when the automobile is started. The solenoid of the starter defines a coil receiving space adapted to receive an internal solenoid coil having a plurality of windings of wire wrapped thereabout. Because the starter and the solenoid are disposed near the engine and are subjected to a great deal of heat, it is necessary to shield the solenoid from such heat. Otherwise, the insulation on the wire of the internal solenoid coil will melt and short out such coil or, the overheated solenoid may draw an excess of current from the automobile's battery thereby leading to premature battery failure. To protect the solenoid of the starter from heat, automobiles presently are provided with a solenoid heat shield as original equipment.
These prior art solenoid heat shields are typically provided with a single body member positioned between the solenoid and the engine. Depending upon the engine and the model of automobile, these prior art solenoid heat shields vary widely in configuration and mounting equipment. Typically, the body member is connected to the starter by arms with holes formed therethrough for accommodating a bolt whereby the arms are bolted to the starter, for example.
While the prior art solenoid heat shields function to protect the solenoid from heat, problems have been encountered in the removal and/or the replacement of the solenoid heat shields and starters. For example, when replacement of a starter is required, a problem has been that the original solenoid heat shield will not mount to the replacement starter because the replacement starter may not have the same dimensions as the original starter. In other words, if the replacement starter is slightly larger or smaller than the original starter then the original heat shield cannot be utilized. Thus, one has to either buy a new solenoid heat shield to replace the original solenoid heat shield or operate the replacement starter without a heat shield thereby leading to premature starter failure.
Due to the great number of different configurations of the prior art solenoid heat shields presently available it is impractical for solenoid heat shields to be sold on the aftermarket. Therefore, a replacement prior art solenoid heat shield must be obtained from the original automobile manufacturer, such as General Motors, and normally costs a consumer more than the replacement starter.
To this end, a need has long existed for a heat shield for the solenoid of a starter that can be installed on various makes and models of automobiles and that can replace the original solenoid heat shield provided by the automobile manufacture without requiring the same specialized mounting equipment as the original solenoid heat shield. It is to such an apparatus that the present invention is directed.